Friday, March 2, 2012

Slumgullion #103

Photo from Welcome To Ashley Facebook page.

Indie rockers Welcome To Ashley have a show at Township (formerly known as Pancho’s), at 2200 N. California in Chicago on March 16th.

Local author Marian Manseau Cheatham is holding the official launch party for her historical novel tomorrow afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at the Center For History in Wheaton. Merely Dee is a compelling tale about a young woman struggling with her emotions after surviving the Eastland Disaster, which took place on the Chicago River in 1915.

Tickets went on sale today for The Bad Examples show at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn on March 31st. Meanwhile, the band’s lead vocalist Ralph Covert, who also performs with Ralph’s World, might be going the Doctor Who route with a new TV project. According to Sara Smith’s article in the Glen Ellyn News, Covert has wrapped up work on the pilot for a new children’s show called Time Machine Guitar. As host, he and a trio of puppet sidekicks will use the title instrument to travel through time in order to teach kids about history and other subjects. Covert’s hoping the show will be on national television.

In other Bad Examples related news, the band’s guitarist, Steve Gerlach, is bringing his side project, Tomorrow The Moon, to Quenchers Saloon in Chicago next Friday, March 9th. The bands, Your 33 Black Angels and Planet Creature, are also on the bill. The show starts at 9:00 PM.

Fans who couldn’t make it to New Jersey for the Power-Pop-A-Licious music festival last year can now see at least a portion of it on YouTube. Organized by singer-guitarist Paul Collins, whose power pop credentials include playing in The Nerves and The Beat, the event rocked the Asbury Lanes on April 30 and May 1st with hard-hitting artists like Kurt Baker, The Bam Bams, The Dirty Shames, Future Virgins, The Half Rats, Neutron Drivers, and Collins himself.

Clocking in at just under 50 minutes, Power-Pop-A-Licious: The Movie! was filmed and edited by Derek Davidson. Seeing Collins blasting through “Rock And Roll Girl,” “USA,” and “Walking Out On Love,” along with the various bands, the dazzling merchandise tables, and all those people having fun makes me wish Power-Pop-A-Licious would come to Chicago. Collins will be here on March 25th performing at The Empty Bottle with former fellow founding member of The Nerves, Peter Case.

The New Invaders will be bringing their always impressive 1960s rock tribute show to the Voice Of Care Fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel in Lisle on March 31st. Voice Of Care is a religious organization devoted to helping developmentally challenged individuals. Kudos to New Invaders guitarist Jimmy Herter on backing up singer Peter Noone at some recent Herman’s Hermits gigs at Busch Gardens in Tampa.

Vicki Peterson of The Bangles recently posted on Facebook that she and Susan Cowsill will be recording a CD together as the Psycho Sisters.

Roxy Swain, a catchy Chicago-based rock band that sounds a bit like The Bangles at times, will be performing at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn next Thursday, March 8th, at 8:00 PM.

Late comedian Bernie Mac now has a street named after him in his hometown of Chicago, according to a piece by Alexandra Chachkevitch in this past Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune. Honorary Bernie Mac Street is at the corner of 69th and Sangamon in the Englewood neighborhood.

One of power pop’s most beloved bands, The dB’s, are set to release Falling Off The Sky, their first CD with all the original members in at least 25 years, this coming June. The group, featuring Chris Stamey, Gene Holder, Peter Holsapple, and Will Rigby, will be playing six shows as South By Southwest in Austin, Texas later this month. In a related note, I’m happy to welcome Robin Brevard’s The dB’s Repercussion to my list of recommended blogs.

New Millennium Theatre, long known for an ability to turn 1980s flicks into off-the-wall musicals, is looking to fund its next project, We Are Wyld Stallyns Or: How Bill And Ted Save The World, through Kickstarter. The original musical, written by NMT’s new Artistic Director, Meagan Piccochi, would feature two live bands “in an epic rock duel of triumphant proportions.”

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.